How To Do Oblique Work With A Stability Ball Video

Working the obliques using a stability ball is a great way to do crunches and shape your abs. Learn how to work out the obliques using a stability ball from a certified personal fitness trainer in this exercise video.

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Use correct size ball
Hip on ball
Use bottom arm for support
Remove bottom arm for advanced

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Amy McCauley has been a certified personal fitness trainer since 1995. She specializes in pilates, combat cardio, core conditioning and overall strength training. She works with clients ranging in age from 16 - 69. She has worked at Gold's Gym in Wilmington, NC since 2006. She loves her job because it gives her the opportunity to change peoples' lives in a positive way.

Hi. I'm going to show you how to use the stability ball and do some oblique side work, abdominal work. The size of the ball needs to be about the same size as your kneecap. So if you are anything under 5'4", you're going to use a 55-cm ball. Between 5'4" and 5'7", try a 65, and anything over at 5'7" in height, you want to try to use a 75-cm ball. So the first thing you want to do is take yourself down so that your hip is on the ball, your bottom leg is going to go straight, your top legs will go out in front of it. You want to keep the top knee bent just a little bit. Your hip position needs to be right on that ball, so that when you come down and up, you're not laying over the ball completely. So side curve at the body here, top leg needs to be bent slightly, bottom leg lengthened but there's a slight bend. Modification is hand in a 90-degree angle with your arm, and you're just coming up and down with a straight motion. So you're actually using your bottom arm to support you as you come up. This is going to be your base level, you're trying to get your ribcage, your hip contracted as you pull up. So if you just started, you want to try to do between 8 and 12 repetitions and then add your reps as you go. Full version is take both hands behind your head and you're going straight down with it. As you come up, you're twisting, so that your chest and your shoulders go straight at the wall. So as you target your opening and then you're coming back down, you don't want to go all the way down where your body let's go of the tension. Keep the tension in your waistline. As you come up, you're twisting to that shoulder and then coming back down. So it's exhale as you lift and inhale as you lower. On this one, you want to try to do between 12 and 15 repetitions, and really engage that muscle on the side. Modification again, 90-degree angle, pull up and down. Full version is to lift, you can either lift straight or you can lift and twist. So we're trying really hard to work between the ribcage and the hip, into your oblique muscles. Once you've fatigued that side, then switch over into the other side. So you can reps all the way up to 25 to 50, if you want to and if you're comfortable with that, and then switch on to the other side. And that's how we do our oblique crunch using the stability ball.

How to Do Oblique Work With a Stability Ball Video

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